The Borge Mogensen 2213 model featured patinated thick dark cognac leather and teak legs.
Though rare, the dealership, which trades mostly online, judged that the fair was the best place to offer this piece as it was more striking seen in person. It was snapped up early on by an existing client.
Other large objects sold throughout the event (June 19-28) included a 10-seater walnut veneered Art Deco dining table with eight chairs and two armchairs, offered for £16,000 by Jeroen Markies, and a grand-scale mahogany side table from David Bedale.
Positive trends
Noting the trend, and an interest in smaller decorative pieces, fair organiser Mary Claire Boyd of Clarion Events said: “In the context of what are undeniably difficult times for trading, the overall results were positive.”
It marked the end of an unsettled 12 months for the event founded in 1972. Last year’s summer staging was burdened with the news that the winter fair might be shut down. That event was ultimately saved, but further changes followed to the summer edition.
Its brief incorporation into Clarion’s House & Garden Festival was scrapped, its run extended to 10 days and new branding created.
Most notable for long-time visitors to the fair was the loss of exhibitors on the upper level, as the event was consolidated onto the ground floor. Some former gallery exhibitors were still to be found in their own marked-out section of the fair.
Concerns over the future of Olympia have persisted in the trade for years.
However, reports of some truly robust sales suggest that this historic collector’s fair still attracts its traditional audience as well as a newer team of buyers interested in decorative and interior pieces.
Other stand-out sales included a 17th century bracket clock by Jonathan Lowndes sold from the stand of first-time exhibitor Alexander George Antiques. The buyer, a new client who said he wanted the piece to pass down to his son, purchased it for a price in the region of £30,000.
Elsewhere, Aaron Nejad Gallery, returning after three years away, brought a Kerman Laver rug which went to a South American buyer for £3500; a George III casserole tureen offered for £15,750 sold at the stand of Mary Cooke Antiques; and a Royal Worcester bust of Queen Victoria by James Hadley priced at £2500 sold on the stand of Long Tran Antiques.
